b. on
12 March 1892
in
New Quay, Cards.
, the son of a
saddler
,
ThomasJones
and
Elizabeth
, dau. of
JohnWilliams
,
Pendre
,
Llwyndafydd
. He was educated at the
Council School
,
New Quay
and
Aberaeron intermediate school
(
1906-10
); he was a
student teacher
before entering the
University College of Wales
,
Aberystwyth
(
1911-14
). He graduated
B.A. (Wales)
with honours in
Latin
, and was awarded an
M.A.
degree for a thesis on
The native Italian element in early Roman religion
. He taught for nine years in English grammar schools —
Stockton-on-Tees
(
1914-15
);
Whitchurch
,
Salop
(
1915-18
);
Ryleys School
,
Chester
(
1918-20
); and
Sir Thomas Rich's School
,
Gloucester
(
1920-23
).
Latin
was removed from the curriculum at the school in
Gloucester
and he lost his post in consequence. Owing to a slight
defect of his hearing
, he left the teaching profession and returned to do further research in the Classics department at
Aberystwyth
. In
1926
, he was appointed
Assistant Keeper in the Department of Printed Books
,
National Library of Wales
, promoted
Deputy Keeper
in
1928
and he was
Head of the Department
from
1950
until his death. He was recognized as a skilful
bibliographer
, a skill which he surely derived from his scholarship and discipline in the Classics. He married
Elizabeth Mary
, daughter of
IsaacDavies
, of
New Quay
, but there were no children.

He had a
special aptitude for learning languages
, and his thorough knowledge of
Latin
and
Greek
provided him with a firm foundation for learning other languages, such as
French
,
Spanish
and
Italian
. He had a good knowledge of
German
,
Russian
and
Polish
, and could read
most of the other
Slavic
,
Scandinavian
,
Hungarian
, and, of course,
Celtic
languages. He was
interested in the Eastern languages
, such as
Persian
and
Arabic
, and he took up the study of
Sanscrit
and
Pali
to acquire first-hand knowledge of the religious literature of
India
. It was his mastery of
Sanscrit
that enabled him to
translate
the
Mahāvastu
, the scriptures of the oldest of the
Buddhist
sects, into
English
, and which was published in three volumes under the auspices of the
Pali Text Society
in
1949-56
. According to
MissI.B.Horner
, the Society's
secretary
, this first translation into any language is an outstanding contribution to
Buddhist
studies; he succeeded in overcoming and explaining the difficulties of the text, and translated it into a beautiful, flowing
English
style.

He contributed articles to
Welsh
periodicals on
Celtic
studies, religion and bibliography. He published
Welsh
translations of
Breton
and
Russian
short stories in
Yr Efrydydd
,
1935
and
Yr Haul1945
, and
Persian
sayings in
Yr Efrydydd
,
1934
. He published articles in
Yr Haul
(
1942-4
) on unascribed
Latin
hymns in the
Emyniadur
(the
Welsh Anglican
hymnal,
1897
), contributed to the
Dictionary of Welsh Biography
, and wrote the introduction to the section on
Welsh
proverbs in
Racial proverbs …
edited by
S.G.Champion
(
Routledge
,
1938
).

His relaxations were
chess
and an occasional novel. He enjoyed
watching football and cricket
and was an enthusiastic
bowls player
. His
hardness of hearing
made conversation difficult for him and he developed interests such as these, which did not depend on conversational ability. He was a true gentleman, friendly, unassuming and respected by all who knew him. His wife died on
29 July, 1955
, at the age of 64, and the third volume of the
Mahāvastu
is dedicated to her as a tribute to her patience and inspiration in the course of his work on the translation. He died suddenly on the
20th February, 1957
, a few months before he was due to retire, and he was buried in the cemetery of
Maenygroes Congregational chapel
, near
New Quay
.